turning stock

turningfool · December 31, 2006, 08:53:11 AM

not reversible as of yet..but thinking of getting the upgrade kit for it..do you turn?

SwampDonkey · December 31, 2006, 09:10:20 AM

I turn yes. But not a lot. Mostly for my furniture projects.

See a couple threads I have in the 'Drying and Processing' board. I turned the legs on the night stand and will be turning the bottom of the legs of my new desk. I have turned a handful of bowels 10 years or so back.

When ever I have a bunch of scraps on the floor and start cleaning.......hmmm I can't through them away. The noodles start cooking and I wonder what I am going to make from those. After a while them pieces start getting in the road and end up in the stove. :

I might use a bunch of them and make some complicated gadget to collect dust. :D :D Actually, I gotta make a couple things for the forum auction some day....some day being keywords here. :

cheers

turningfool · December 31, 2006, 09:52:13 AM

scraps?..i know that feeling..i have a dozen plastic 55 gallon drums of so called scraps that i cant seem to toss went from girls to wood almost over night ;D

SwampDonkey · December 31, 2006, 11:35:12 AM

I'de like to see Kevin turn some of that red hearted box elder. I don't know what you'de use to keep it's color. I know that Varithane diamond finish didn't turn my butternut and it won't yellow. But, I don't think it's a good finish for turnings. Sure ain't food save. But, if you polish the piece and finish it with this it will look like glass. I'de leave her right on the lathe until finished and put some felt on the bottom after the piece it hard cured. It's water based.

turningfool · December 31, 2006, 12:17:00 PM

know anything about sanding sealers? they are supposed to prevent the finish from soaking into the dryer spots on the project..i do a fair amount of redwood lace and have had my share of disappointments after finishing..want to try them but wary of the chemicals in most of them

turningfool · January 03, 2007, 04:54:47 AM

the color fades only slightly after the piece is finished and to the human eye ,actually seems to get brighter as the balance of the wood fades to an almost bone color as time progesses..i'm always working on something box eldery and have had really good experiences from it as it cuts well..albeit with some tear out of end grain..but finishes well and moves little..try it..you'll like it the last few pieces, i have applied pentacryl to after preturning to get rid of unwanted wood and have has great success.with no cracks as it dries and the stuff actually make the piece dry much quicker than the end grain sealers do

SwampDonkey · January 03, 2007, 05:58:15 AM

There's your queue Kevin, get turn'n ;D

turningfool · January 05, 2007, 04:47:07 AM

any turners out there using sanding sealers? want to try some but am wary of the results..any info would help

turningfool · January 06, 2007, 12:38:10 PM

found a local farmer and a 10"dia. sumac that i will cut come spring..will give it a whirl swamp donkey..have turned butternut and love the shimmering gold tones in it

SwampDonkey · January 06, 2007, 04:28:00 PM

Wow

10 " is a monster sumac. The grain is very similar to butternut. I wish you could get a good scan of the end grain and sawn surface for the forum. ;D

turningfool · January 06, 2007, 07:48:08 PM

come spring after the sumac is felled i promise pics...i think your a dang nice guy too swamp donkey and i aint gettin no stock from you..the folks here are down right friendly...all of them ;D

SwampDonkey · January 06, 2007, 07:51:30 PM

Tom, well you know...the typical ribbing among a bunch of fellers. ;)

Keep on keeping on.

turningfool · January 24, 2007, 04:39:05 AM

i know all about the ribbing thing sd..been on the other end lots of times :D found a yew that someone had tossed in some state land near me..soi snapped it up..will get into it as soon as i can locate it..seems i've been blowing the snow from the driveway over top of it..it'll show its face again in the spring :D

SwampDonkey · January 24, 2007, 07:11:42 AM

Tom, have you seen our new 'General Woodworking' board for members. It's something you may not have noticed when scrolling through the main page. Sometimes, even I have to look twice and I know it's there somewhere. ;D :D :D

turningfool · January 24, 2007, 07:00:06 PM

sd..yes i discovered it not too long ago..found kevins box elder listing in there and a myriad of other articles that are just as informative..thanks for pointing it out tho ;D

333_okh · January 24, 2007, 10:47:31 PM

I am currently cutting Pacific madrone, Pacific [big-leaf] maple, myrtle [laurel/pepperwood], redwood, walnut, and a little of the oaks [tanoak, and live oak].

They will all we wet right now except the splated big-leaf curly wood wit ha tad of wormy in it.

PM me with specific needs.

turningfool · February 13, 2007, 09:22:53 PM

anything big and burly

333_okh · February 13, 2007, 10:28:18 PM

Depends on how large and burly you want. I have some redwood cants with a little bird's-eye and burl, but they are 8x14 inch and 12 feet long. I also have some ropey grain curly redwood in blocks.

I have a round of Pacific madrone sealed that has a burl on the side.

I also have some very seasoned spalted Pacific maple that has a little burl and fiddleback in it.

Sparty · February 14, 2007, 03:49:49 AM

Turning fool-
I live between Ann Arbor and Adrian and have a lot of stuff you may find interesting.
I have a block of spalted, curly maple that is 3' high by at least 2' square, actualy I have two of these. They are big heavy stumps that are 90% solid. I'll post some pictures this weekend. Also have a 6' long by 10" diameter mulberry stump, lots of thick ash stock that is still air drying (up to 5" by 23"). In two weeks I am taking several large logs out of a huge walnut, if you are intersested in any of the upper branches or crotches, I could harvest those as well. Let me know if you are ever in the area. I have family in your area (G.R. and Ionia), but they usually come this way to visit.

turningfool · February 14, 2007, 04:38:54 AM

i travel east of me quite often sparty and what you describe sounds very interesting..tell me more ;D

SwampDonkey · February 14, 2007, 06:18:00 AM

I found a big old yellow birch burl once on an old growth tree. The tree was big enough and the burl was even bigger. I bet that dang thing was well over a ton. Some folks I knew have a camp near it on a crown lease and one of the guy's nephews was the woodland manager for the area. I think they (forest company) cut it when they were after blow downs and skidded it out to a trailer for a friend of theirs.

Sparty · February 15, 2007, 08:12:24 PM

well, lets attempt some pictures....
this one should be a board I ripped off one of the curly spalted maple stumps. Not a strong curl, but those marks that look like planer marks are the curly figure.

Sparty · February 15, 2007, 08:22:25 PM

Here's the biggest maple chunk. I took a better look at it today and it's a stump from a tree about 25" in diameter and is about 30" high. The ends are checked a little, but not bad for a maple. You can see the figure on the outside of the log.

Sparty · February 15, 2007, 08:28:58 PM

And here are the two chunks, the shovel in the lower right side should give you an idea of size. Anyway, I would imagine there are plenty of turning blanks in there.

And here's another look at what is inside those chunks...its solid wood, not rotted.